Hand saw

ABSTRACT

A saw is described as having an adjustable handle wherein the angle of the handle in relation to the longitudinal axis of the saw blade and blade holder is rotatably adjustable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention concerns saws, especially hacksaws.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Hacksaws are common hand tools and can be used for cutting through avariety of materials. Usually a hacksaw blade is replaceable, so that ahacksaw can have a long useful life. However, a hacksaw is limited inits applications because of its rigidity and cannot be used easily inawkward situations or confined spaces.

An object of this invention is to provide a saw, especially a hacksaw,that may be used in a variety of situations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a saw, especially ahacksaw, comprising a blade holder, a handle for the blade holder at oneend thereof and a saw blade detachably coupled to the blade holder,characterised in that the orientation of the blade relative to thehandle is adjustable and/or the angle of the handle relative to theblade holder is adjustable.

The orientation of the blade is preferably adjustable through 90°,although it is not beyond the scope of the invention for the orientationof the blade to be adjustable through 180° or even 360°.

The blade holder is preferably elongate and preferably has at each endtwo or more blade attachment locations, so that the blade may beattached in a range of orientations relative to the blade holder.Preferably the two orientations are at right angles to each other.

Preferably the blade attachment locations at the handle end thereof areprovided on a member that is rotatable relative to the blade holder. Therotatable member is preferably connected to the handle but preferablyseparable therefrom. The member may be screw threadedly connected to thehandle. That may have the advantage that the blade can be tensioned byscrewing the handle to the member to draw it away from the other end ofthe blade holder.

In order to adjust the angle of the handle relative to the blade holder,it is preferred that a part of the handle or the rotatable memberconnected thereto extend through a passage in a block or the like, whichpassage is angled relative to a longitudinal axis of the block. Thus, byrotating the block about its longitudinal axis the angle of the handlemay be adjusted. The block or the like is preferably mounted in a holdertherefor at the handle end of the blade holder. The holder for the blockpreferably has a circular section passage for the block the axis ofwhich is at an angle to the blade holder.

The rotatable member preferably has its blade attachment locations on apart thereof offset relative to a longitudinal axis of the member,whereby turning the member through 180° the blade may be attached closerto or further away from the blade holder at that end thereof.

Generally the blade will be fixed relatively closely to the blade holderalong its length. However, for some purposes it may be advantageous tohave a greater spacing between the blade and the blade holder. Toachieve that, an extension piece may be provided that is attachable tosaid one end of the blade holder and which provides blade attachmentlocations at its free end. The extension piece may conveniently bestored in the handle of the saw, for which purpose the handle ispreferably hollow and preferably has a removable cap at its free end.

The blade attachment locations are preferably lugs to fit correspondingholes of the blades near their ends, a blade being retained on the bladeholder by tensioning thereof. The lugs may have lips extending away fromthe blade end to assist retention of a blade on the lugs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will now be further described, by way of example only,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a saw of the invention with its blade and handle in oneorientation;

FIGS. 2 to 8 show the saw of FIG. 1 with either or both of the handle orthe blade in a different orientation;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 show the saw of FIG. 1 with an additional componentwhereby further blade and handle orientation permutations are achieved;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are views showing the additional component used in thesaw shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11;

FIG. 13 shows detail of the handle of the saw of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 14A and 14B show further handle detail;

FIGS. 15A, 15B and 15C are respectively section, end and perspectiveviews of a component of the saw of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C are respectively top side and sectional views ofone end of a spine of the saw of FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 shows a further component of the saw of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 18 and 19 show two further saw configurations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the accompanying drawings, a saw 10 generally comprises aspine 12, a handle 14 and a blade 16. The spine 12 is fixed at one endto a block 18 which has a passage 20 through it. The other end of thespine 12 is curved and slotted at 24. On opposite sides of the spine atits slotted end are lugs 26, on to which the saw blade can be located,as well as a lug 28 in the slot 24. The slot 24 is actually stepped toallow a blade to be fitted onto the lug 28 before being moved to occupythe narrower part of the slot. A further lug 29 is provided on theunderside of the spine nearly at right angles to the lugs 26.

The other end of the blade 16 is attached to one of two lugs 30, 32 atright angles to each other on one end of a tensioning screw member 34.The lugs 26, 30 and 32 each have a small lip 33 extending away fromtheir end of the blade 16 in order to assist retention of the bladethereon. The screw member 34 extends through tubular member 36 whichfits in the block 18 in different radial positions. The tubular member36 itself has a passage 37 through it that is angled relative to thelongitudinal axis of the member. Thus, the angle of the screw member 34may be altered relative to the spine 12 by rotating the tubular member36 in the block 18.

The block 18 has a projection 40 on its end face 42 and the tubularmember 36 has a flange 44 with four spaced recesses 46. One of therecesses 46 locates the member 36 relative to the block by fitting overthe projection 40. Thus, the tubular member 36 and hence the screwmember 34 can be located at four different angles relative to the spine12.

The screw member 34 has its lugs 30, 32 on an end part 48 that is offsetrelative to a longitudinal axis of the screw member 34. Thereby rotatingthe screw member 34 and tubular member 36 relative to each other and tothe spine 12 the blade 16 will be positioned closer to or further awayfrom the spine or in line with or to either side of the spine.

The handle 14 is attached to the screw member 34 and bears against thetubular member 36, so that screwing the handle onto the screw member 34increases tension on the blade 16.

For some purposes it may be desirable to have a greater distance betweenthe blade 16 and the spine 12. To that end an extension piece 50 isprovided, which is conveniently stored in a chamber 52 in the handleclosed by a screw threaded cap 54. The extension piece 50 has a firstend 56 that locates rigidly on the free end of the spine 12. The end 56is enlarged in section relative to the remainder thereof and has a blindbore 58 into which the free end of the spine 12 fits. At the entrance tothe bore 58 is a small nib 59 which locates in the slot 24 at the end ofthe spine 12 to prevent the extension piece rotating around the end ofthe spine. At its other end, the extension piece 50 has a pair of lugs60, 62 onto which a blade can locate in either of two orientations atright angles to each other. The lug 62 has a lip 63 similar to lip 33.

Because of the provision of blade attachment locations at angles to eachother, the adjustable angle of the screw tensioning member 34 and theextension piece 50, the illustrated saw can be assembled in a variety ofways including to alter the orientation of the blade 16 relative to thespine 12, the spacing of the blade relative to the spine 12 and theangle of the handle 14 relative to the spine 12.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the blade is in the same plane as the spine andrelatively close thereto. The handle is substantially in line with theblade.

In FIG. 3, the screw member 34 has been turned through 180° to increasethe angle between the blade and the spine compared to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 4, the member 36 has been turned through 180° compared to FIGS.1 and 2, so that the handle is angled relative to the blade.

In FIG. 5, both the member 36 and the screw member 34 have been turnedthrough 180° compared to FIGS. 1 and 2 to increase the angle between thespine and the blade and the angle of the handle relative to the blade.

In FIG. 6 the blade is at right angles to the plane of the spine withthe handle substantially in line therewith.

In FIG. 7 the screw member 34 and the member 36 have been turned through180° relative to their positions in FIG. 2, so that the handle is nowinclined relative to the blade and there is a greater overall spacingbetween the blade and the spine.

In FIG. 8, the member 36 and the screw member 34 have been rotated sothat the blade and the handle are inclined relative to the plane of thespine.

In FIG. 9 the extension piece So has been added and the screw member 34turned through 180° compared to FIG. 1.

In FIG. 10 the blade has been reattached at 90° compared to FIG. 9 andthe member 36 turned through 180° to put the handle in line with theblade.

Finally in FIG. 11 compared to FIG. 9, the member 36 has been turnedthrough 180° so that the handle is in line with the blade.

Finally, FIGS. 18 and 19 show two further saw configurations, whichallow the blade 16 to cut completely into a corner and to cut flush tosurfaces with the blade perpendicular to and parallel to surfaces.

I claim:
 1. A saw comprising a handle having a tensioning screw memberextending therefrom, the tensioning screw member having an end remotefrom the handle and an attachment lug on the end of the tensioning screwmember, a hollow first member having a second member rotatable in saidhollow first member and having a longitudinal axis, a passage throughthe rotatable member angled relative to the rotatable memberlongitudinal axis, the tensioning screw member of the handle beingfitted through said passage, a spine extending from the first hollowmember oppositely to the handle and having an end remote therefrom, anattachment lug on the end of the spine, a blade having two spaced endsand a hole near each end, one blade hole is fitted onto the bladeattachment lug of the tensioning screw member and the other blade holeis fitted onto the blade attachment lug of the spine, wherein byrotating the rotatable member about the rotatable member longitudinalaxis, an orientation of the handle is adjustable relative to the spine.2. A saw as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blade has a longitudinalaxis and an orientation of the blade about the blade longitudinal axisis adjustable.
 3. A saw as claimed in claim 2, wherein the orientationof the blade is adjustable through 180°.
 4. A saw as claimed in claim 2,wherein the orientation of the blade is adjustable through 90°.
 5. A sawas claimed in claim 1, wherein the spine has two or more bladeattachment lugs.
 6. A saw as claimed in claim 5, wherein the spine bladeattachment lugs are at right angles to each other.
 7. A saw as claimedin claim 1, wherein the tensioning screw member and handle areseparable.
 8. A saw as claimed in claim 7, wherein the tensioning screwmember is screw-threadedly connected to the handle.
 9. A saw as claimedin claim 1, wherein the tensioning screw member of the handle has alongitudinal axis and has a part thereof offset relative to thetensioning screw member longitudinal axis, the blade attachment lugsbeing on said offset part.
 10. A saw as claimed in claim 1 furthercomprising an extension piece having two ends, one end being attached tosaid remote end of the spine and the other end having blade attachmentlugs.
 11. A saw as claimed in claim 10, wherein the handle of the saw ishollow and said extension piece is stored in the handle.
 12. A saw asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the attachment lugs have lips extendingtowards the blade ends.
 13. A saw comprising:a handle; a tensioningscrew member extending from the handle, the tensioning screw memberhaving a distal end; an attachment lug on the distal end of thetensioning screw member; a block having a first passage extendingtherethrough, the first passage having a first axis; a tubular membermounted in the first passage for rotation of the tubular member in thefirst passage relative to the block, the tubular member having a secondpassage extending therethrough, the second passage having a second axisthat is oriented at an angle relative to the first axis and thetensioning screw member extends through the second passage; a spineextending from the block away from the handle to a distal end of thespine; an attachment lug on the distal end of the spine; and a saw bladehaving opposite first and second ends with a first hole adjacent thefirst end and a second hole adjacent the second end of the saw blade,the first hole is fitted onto the attachment lug on the distal end ofthe tensioning screw member and the second hole is fitted onto theattachment lug on the distal end of the spine, whereby rotation of thetubular member in the first passage of the block selectively increasesand decreases an angle of orientation of the handle relative to thespine.
 14. The saw of claim 12, wherein:the blade has an axis and theblade is rotatable about the blade axis in response to rotating thehandle relative to the block.
 15. The saw of claim 13, wherein:thedistal end of the spine has a plurality of attachment lugs.
 16. The sawof claim 15, wherein:at least two attachment lugs of the plurality ofblade attachment lugs of the spine are oriented at right angles to eachother.
 17. The saw of claim 13, wherein:the tensioning screw member andhandle are separable from each other.
 18. The saw of claim 13,wherein:the tensioning screw member has a center axis and the distal endof the tensioning screw member is offset to one side of the center axis,and the attachment lug on the distal end of the tensioning screw memberis on the offset.
 19. The saw of claim 13, further comprising:anextension piece having opposite first and second ends with the first endbeing attachable to the distal end of the spine and the second endhaving attachment lugs for the saw blade thereon.
 20. The saw of claim19 wherein:the handle has a hollow interior chamber that is sufficientlylarge to receive the extension piece therein.